


Intro to Method Acting

by EjTuPaGaisu



Category: If We Were Villains - M.L. Rio
Genre: Acting nerds, Cuddling & Snuggling, James Farrow being a bit of a little shit, M/M, Mostly Platonic, criminal absence of Shakespearean quotes, this fandom deserves more cute shit damn it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-30
Updated: 2017-09-30
Packaged: 2019-01-07 07:31:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12228375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EjTuPaGaisu/pseuds/EjTuPaGaisu
Summary: "For animal work, Camilo had assigned him the leopard. He spent a month prowling around our room in the dark before he was sufficiently absorbed in the role to pounce me in my sleep. I spent the next half hour waiting for my heart to stop hammering while I assured him that, yes, my cry of terror had been entirely genuine." - If We Were Villains, Scene 9





	Intro to Method Acting

**Author's Note:**

> I loved the image of James jumping on Oliver in the middle of the night and scaring the living daylight out of him, so decided to write this very short piece on that. I hope you enjoy. This is my first time publishing something in English that is not my native language, so please forgive me if this feels somehow clumsy. Also not a single quote from the good old William S. Forgive me. Is it legal to be a fan of IWWV while being only vaguely familiar with Shakespeare?

I woke up in the dead of the night, screaming my head off.

Only when I realized it was the familiar weight of James' body pinning me down to the bed, I stopped struggling and let my head fall back in the pillow to catch my breath. The adrenaline was still cruising through my veins, so the “Fucking hell, James!” came out closer to a shout than a nighttime appropriate tone. 

James, my devious roommate and best friend, grinned bright enough for me to see in the pitch black darkness of our shared room “Did I get you?”

“Fucking hell” I repeated, in a much more faint voice this time and wearily lifted a hand to scrub over my face. James was still perched with his knees either side of my thighs and hands comfortably spread over my chest, and he showed no intention of moving, instead just inclined his head to the side still in a feline like manner, waiting for me to elaborate. 

“Of course you got me! Jesus, I nearly pissed my pants!” I blurted out and instantly regretted it, as a flicker of worry crossed James's face and he peered down as to check up on the situation in my pants, which made me blush heartily and I tried again “I mean, can't you feel that my heart is about to leap out and sprint for the fucking hills?”

James shifted one of his palms on my chest so it was resting right over my heart, and admitted   
“That is kinda fast...are you alright?”

“No!” I was back to the shouting “I thought you were a bloody axe murdered about to kill me!”

James face was split by a genuine grin and then he laughed out so brightly I could not keep from chuckling along.

Ever since Camilo had given us animals to impersonate, James had become obsessed with his task of becoming the leopard. Him creeping around our bedroom at night wasn't something that I wasn't used to. James had gotten it in his head that he should learn to move around in the dark as well as the animal with eyes specifically adjusted to hunting in the night did. For the first couple nights him moving across the floorboards and quietly bumping into furniture had disturbed me from a peaceful sleep. But as days went on, my exhaustion overpowered my roommates creeping around. Or maybe James got more confident in the silent movements. Whichever the case, tonight's ambush had come as a complete shock so in James's eyes, he had mastered the assignment. 

“Did you really not hear me coming?” He asked again and again.

“No! Do you think I could have faked that absolute cry of terror?”

“Well, you are a very good actor!”  
I tried not to blush and squirm under the compliment because for some reason James hadn't moved from his position on top of me. Not that I minded terribly. Then with a satisfied sigh James let the arms and knees supporting his weight to give out so now his body weight was crushing mine, but I tried to keep the undignified yelp to myself. 

“I'm really tired” he admitted, tucking his head under my chin.

“I guess that's what happens when you stay up half your nights, looming around your unsuspecting roommate” I mock scolded and tried not to sneeze even though stray locks of James hair were tickling my nose.

James snorted softly and the noise against my skin sent a little chill down my spine. “Totally worth it though!”

“You did great!” I assured once more, uncertainly batting his hair away from my face “I will vouch to Camilo for you!”

“You don't need to do that!” James' voice came a bit slurred from where his lips were smashed against my collarbone.”I will show Camilo myself!”

For a split second my blood ran cold “What, are you gonna jump in his bed as well?”

James lifted his head at that and I could just about make out his thoughtful expression, so I rushed to say “Please don't jump in anybody else's beds! Just mine is enough, I think!”

A snort yet again “Okay, Oliver, just your bed then...” and he yawned and tucked his hands under his cheek, wiggled around a little bit, then settled down.

I waited a beat. Then- “Um, James? What are you doing?”

“Expanding the character! This is how leopards sleep!”

I was pretty sure that this was more like how baby koalas slept, but I wasn't gonna rise any complains. Instead after a second long hesitation I wrapped my arms around my friend's body and tried to calm my still fast beating heart. These past days James had looked a bit worn out and if he was comfortable enough to fall asleep on top of my admittedly quite bony frame, so be it. 

After just a few short minutes James' breaths evened out to a sleepy rhythm, meanwhile I kept my opened eyes glued to the dark ceiling, my arms tight around James. It was a long time until my heartbeat slowed enough for sleep to be possible. Maybe it was because of the unfamiliar but not unpleasant weight on my chest. Maybe I was just nervous of disturbing James' rest. Whatever it might be, when I opened my eyes it was morning, my sheets were rumpled, and James was peacefully sleeping in his own bed across the room. For a couple of minutes I just stared at his sleeping form with bleary eyes, wracking my brain to try and understand if the nightly ambush had even happened at all, but the need to get up and get going stopped me from thinking about it too much or too hard. 

James didn't pay me any more attention than usual, but he looked better rested than the past month, was quicker to laugh and I had almost dismissed the strange night until we gathered for Camilo's class and were half heartedly warming up. As Camilo entered, James almost bounced over to him in his excitement and began speaking in a low voice and whatever he was saying prompted amused shine in Camilo's eyes. Alexander, who was closest to them, apparently had no problem eavesdropping and sharing with the class.

“Oh, so that's what was happening last night!” he drawled “And here I thought Oliver was getting attacked by a murderer!”

The rest of our classmates looked up in confusion, but I gaped at Alexander “You heard me screaming and didn't even think to go and see if I was okay?”

Alexander grimaced “No, I really did not want to know what the two of you could get up to that could make you scream like that.”

James cheeks colored with a blush, so I rushed to address Camilo “But James did a magnificent job! Truly! My damaged nervous system can testify to that!”

Camilo chuckled at that, clapped James on the shoulder and called to the rest of our class to get up so we could begin. Over the heads and mutters of our classmates I locked eyes with James who smiled at me. I smiled back.


End file.
